A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

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  A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation? Abstract Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus , observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus , was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a ...

First record of Aenigmarachne Schmidt, 2005 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Colombia, with the description of a new species and the first described female

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First record of Aenigmarachne Schmidt, 2005 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Colombia, with the description of a new species and the first described female

Abstract

The previously monotypic genus Aenigmarachne Schmidt, 2005, known only from a single male specimen collected presumably in Isla el Coco, Costa Rica, is reported here for the first time in Colombia, with the description of a new species based on male and female specimens. Thus, we expand the known geographic range of the genus and enhance our understanding of Theraphosinae diversity in northern South America and Colombia. Additionally, we provide detailed observations on the urticating setae in the species and discuss aspects of its natural history.

Osorio, L.M., Polo, J.S. Ávila, Sabbatino, A.F. & Martínez, L.A.S. (2025) First record of Aenigmarachne Schmidt, 2005 (Araneae: Theraphosidae) from Colombia, with the description of a new species and the first described female. Zootaxa, 5723 (4), 550–564. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5723.4.5